Merchants see big Thanksgiving gains from holiday buyers

The Thanksgiving weekend gave the nation's retailers a solid start to the holiday season, but stores that expected shoppers to have less interest in bargain-hunting were disappointed.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other discounters had the strongest sales, attracting crowds with specials on TVs, DVD players and toys. Department stores and mall-based apparel retailers were discounting less than they did last year, and their business was uneven.

"Sales appear to be better than last year, but the consumer is still value-oriented and is looking for sales," said Walter Loeb, who runs his own New York-based retail consulting firm.

A dozen people were standing in line Sunday morning at a Best Buy in Dunwoody, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, waiting for doors to open at 10 a.m. Like many shoppers, Charles and Susan Lynch were willing to spend but hoping to get a good deal.

"I was unemployed this time last year so my economic situation has greatly improved," said Charles Lynch, who was looking for a home theater system.

Regina Elias, shopping for discounted Bratz dolls Sunday at a KB Toys store in Manhattan, said she was feeling "a little better than last year" about her finances.

"I'm working a lot of overtime," said Elias, of Bayonne, N.J. But she said she plans to spend the same as last year, about $1,000.

Michael P. Niemira, a retail industry analyst with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., said of the weekend, "It was pretty good, but it wasn't spectacular." He said business was stronger for discounters than it was for department stores and apparel merchants.

Total retail sales Friday were up 4.8 percent to $7.2 billion from the Friday after Thanksgiving a year ago.

, according to ShopperTrak, which tallies sales at 30,000 retail outlets. Last year's sales had been 6.8 percent higher than 2001 results.

For Friday and Saturday combined, total sales were up about 5.5 percent, according to Niemira, a consultant with ShopperTrak.

Niemira said he still forecasts a sales gain of 4.5 percent for the November-December period, the best performance since 1999, when sales rose 5.4 percent. He based the estimate on sales from stores open at least a year, considered the best indicator of a retailer's health. Despite the strong start, last holiday season's results were unchanged from 2001.

There were other indications that overall, it was a good weekend:

Online sales had a strong showing on Friday. Research firm comScore Networks Inc., reported online sales rose 38 percent to $200 million on Friday from $145 million a year ago.

Visa USA said total U.S. spending on Visa credit and debit cards on Friday and Saturday rose 12 percent over the same period last year.

Wal-Mart said it hit a company sales record for the day after Thanksgiving, taking in more than $1.52 billion nationally on Friday, compared to $1.43 billion a year ago.

Karen MacDonald, a spokeswoman at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers, which owns or manages 31 shopping centers in 13 states, said stores reported more customers were paying full prices. On Friday and Saturday, business was up in the mid-single digits from a year earlier.

While the Thanksgiving weekend starts the shopping spree, it no longer is the busiest period of the season. The busiest day over the past few years has been the Saturday before Christmas. The week before Christmas accounted for 41 percent of holiday sales a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.